Long Time No See

Leslie woke up a few days later around 10:30 to her parents singing her Happy Birthday. They brought her in waffles with strawberries, chocolate syrup and whipped cream, and a glass of orange juice.

"Mom, Dad. I'm twenty two," she blushed.

"No, no!" her dad plugged his ears jokingly. "Don't say it!"

"Dad, I think we've gone over this a million times." Leslie grinned, then dug into her food. Her parents left for work a bit late, and Leslie waved them goodbye in her pajamas before sitting down on the couch and staring at her cell phone.

Jon had only called her once since the day they kissed. Did he regret kissing her? Leslie shook the thought out of her mind and turned on the TV. About five minutes into Mythbusters, her phone rang and she picked it up eagerly.

"Hi, Jonny."

"Hey, you. Be ready in ten minutes," he said, then hung up the phone.

Leslie stared at her phone for a minute, then ran upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a top, and threw her hair up into a messy bun. She opened the door and sat on the porch, waiting until Jon pulled up. He waved, and she smiled and closed the door behind her, then ran down the path just as he came around the front of the car. She gasped as he held out a bag that said 'Happy Birthday' on it.

"I thought-"

"You thought I forgot?" he asked, looking hurt.

"Well, you didn't mention it on the phone or anything, and-"

"I didn't want you to expect this," he said, pointing at the present.

"So you made me think you forgot instead?" Leslie pointed out, grinning.

He shrugged, then handed her the present. "I wouldn't forget my girls' birthday," he said simply.

His girl?

Leslie wrapped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his back. He picked her up and spun her around. She giggled and he removed one hand from under her legs to brush her hair back that was falling in front of her eyes. She was amazed at how strong he was; he was holding her up with one arm. She searched his eyes, then leaned down and kissed him slowly.

"Your girl?" she whispered, leaning her forehead against his. He put her down and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah. Unless this," he kissed her, "doesn't mean anything to you."

She didn't even hesitate to kiss him one more time. "You have no idea."

He smiled. "Good. Don't open that present just yet."

"So where are we going?" she asked as he drove away from her house.

"You'll find out." They drove past the highway and onto the little road that Leslie knew led to Toews Lake.

"Why are we here? I thought you didn't like it." Leslie teased as they got out of the car.

"It's a nice lake, I just don't like the name," Jonathan said, taking her hand, ". And I thought we could spend the day here, just us."

Leslie leaned into him, smiling. "That sounds perfect... except it's kind of conceited that you're bringing me to the lake that's named after YOU for MY birthday." she grinned.

He shook his head.

They walked in by the lake and sat down beside each other on the beach. Jon put his arm around Leslie and she leaned into his shoulder. Her thoughts wandered to earlier that morning.

She laughed quietly and Jon looked down at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing."

He kissed her head and pulled her towards him even more, if that was possible. "Come on."

"It's just..."

"Just what?" he prodded, running his fingers up her arm.

"Well, it's just that I thought maybe you regretted kissing me because you can have any girl you want and - I mean, why me? - and you're going back to Chicago and when you do, you'll be back to Jonathan Celebrity Toews and there will be all these girls after you and I mean, why me? I'm just little ol' Leslie from Winnipeg..." her voice trailed off nervously.

Jon sighed. "Okay. Tell me, Leslie; who am I to you?"

Leslie looked at him, confused. " You're Jonathan...?"

He nodded. "Keep going."

She really didn't understand his point, but she thought hard. "You're Jon, Jonny Toews...? One of the best guys I know..."

"Okay. So why did you call me 'Jonathan Celebrity Toews'? That's not who I am to you. That's who I am to people who don't know me. But you do know me. More than a lot of people do. I'm just Jonny to you. Okay?" Leslie nodded. "And you're not just Leslie from Winnipeg. You're THE Leslie from Winnipeg." He smiled his crooked smile and Leslie giggled. "The only Leslie I want to hug or hold or," he paused, staring right into her eyes, "kiss."

Leslie looked at the ground, blushing.

"Hey, look at me," he said, and she did. "I like being with you. It makes me feel normal again. You treat me like a normal person, and I love that."

"Aw Jon," Leslie said. She leaned into him and buried her face in his neck. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"So don't worry about any of that." he said, and Leslie nodded before reaching up, turning his face towards hers and kissing him softly.

"I'm convinced."

Jon smiled. "You can open your present now."

Leslie grinned as he handed her the bag. She ripped it open and giggled as she pulled out a soft teddy bear wearing a necklace that said, 'Leslie'. She ran her hands over it's fur and pulled it into her chest, hugging it. As she did, she inhaled a familiar scent, and turned to Jon.

"Did you make it smell like you on purpose?!"

Jon shook his head. "No...?"

Leslie let out a giggle. "Well it does."

Jon looked confused. "Sorry?"

Leslie shook her head quickly, and smiled sheepishly. "I like the smell of you."Jon gave her an amused look and she shrugged. "It's comforting. You make me feel safe, so your smell is... safe." She blushed and hid her face behind the bear.

Jon chuckled and reached out, pushing the bear away from Leslie's face and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her lips quickly.

"There's two more things in there."

She continued to dig through the bag and found a dark wooden frame with a picture in it of the two of them when they were little, sitting on Jonathan's front porch. They were holding hands, and they both looked extremely happy. She grinned and ran her fingers over the frame.

"I love it, Jonathan. And the bear. Thank you," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a hug.

"There's one more thing."

Leslie raised an eyebrow and stuck her hand in the bag, fumbling around. She felt a small slip of paper and pulled it out, eyeing Jonathan before reading the paper. Her lips curved into a smile and she chewed the inside of her cheek, reading the words over and over.

Will you be my girlfriend?

After a moment of silence, Jon spoke up anxiously. "Will you? Be my girlfriend?"

Leslie looked up at him and nodded. She noticed a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks and giggled. She clutched the note and reached for Jon's hand.

"That was really cute. But I thought we established this earlier?"

Jon blushed even harder and scratched the back of his neck. "I wanted to make it official..." He frowned. "Cute isn't a manly word."

Leslie laughed. "That was... adorable?"

Jon shook his head.

"That was the sweetest thing in the world?"

Jon smiled. "I can deal with that."

Leslie grinned and Jon placed his hand on her face, stroking his thumb along her cheek. He leaned closer and as his lips brushed against hers, he whispered, "So is that a yes?"